Saskatchewan communities looking to alter VIA Rail route to boost ridership

A report was presented to Saskatoon’s governance and priorities committee on Tuesday to bring a VIA Rail line to connect several communities in Saskatchewan and Alberta and create more reliability.

The report, called “The Canadian on the CN Prairie North Line: A Strategic Solution,” proposed a line that would be diverted from the CN main line in Melville, hitting other communities like Yorkton, Humboldt, Warman, North Battleford and Lloydminster, then head into Alberta, hitting Vermillion, Vegreville and Edmonton.

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It was noted that the current performance of the VIA Rail main line is seeing a lack of reliability for arriving on time, with the report saying delays have been as long as 43 hours.

These delays are being attributed to freight traffic on CN’s routes.

“On the CN main line between Winnipeg and Edmonton, freight traffic is routinely over 40 trains per day, while the CN Prairie North Line sees an average of three to six trains per day on the line west of Warman,” the report said.

The report suggested that this was a good way of building connections with Indigenous communities and giving travellers an opportunity to experience more of the Canadian prairies.

Lloydminster Mayor Gerald Aalbers spoke at the meeting on behalf of many of the communities listed in the report, hoping for Saskatoon city council to support the report in principle and for the city to formally request the federal minister of transportation to direct VIA Rail to get a capacity assessment report regarding the CN Prairie north line.

He said they’ve been trying to speak with VIA Rail about this proposal, and the company has seen it.

Mayor Charlie Clark brought forward a motion for city administration to report back after discussing how this might impact tourism in Saskatoon with the Saskatoon Regional Economic Development Authority and Discover Saskatoon, which passed.